Police are trying to find the person who threw a paper airplane into the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan. The cenotaph contains the names of all the people known to be killed by the atomic bomb the United States dropped on August 6, 1945 (estimated to be between 70,000 to 135,00 people).
From SoraNews24:
According to surveillance camera footage, at about 3 a.m. [on October 28] a man walked up to the cenotaph and threw a paper airplane at it so that is landed in front of the monument underneath the arch. He then casually walked away.
The epitaph on the cenotaph reads, "please rest in peace, the mistakes will not be repeated."
Wikipedia says that "the ambiguity of the phrase has the potential to offend; some right-wing circles in Japan have interpreted the words as an admission of guilt — implicitly reading it as 'we (the Japanese people) shall not repeat the error' — and they criticize the epitaph as a self-accusation by the Japanese empire. In July 2005, the cenotaph was vandalized by a Japanese man affiliated with the Japanese right."
The paper airplane, which was taped shut carried a message on the outside that read, "Great Hiroshima Earthquake 10.28 5:18." As SoraNews24 points out, "This is especially cryptic since there is no record of a 'Great Hiroshima Earthquake' and if that was meant to be a prediction, one did not occur at 5:18 a.m. or p.m. on that day either."
From SoraNews24:
Hiroshima city council member Taichi Mukugi wrote about the incident on his blog and added that there was writing on the inside of the plane too, but it was difficult to read and made little sense. Parts referred to "165 countries as of [illegible date]" and "14 including Hiroshima [illegible] Nagasaki." Regardless of the meaning, Mukugi deemed it at best not in the spirit of mourning for the atomic bomb victims and at worst a veiled threat.
As a result, the incident was reported to the police. It's not exactly clear whether throwing a paper airplane at the Atomic Bomb Victims Centograph is a crime but it appears to fall under Article 188 of the penal code which prohibits publicly disrespecting places of worship and cemeteries. Violation of this law can be punished by up to six months in prison and a maximum fine of 100,000 yen (US$676).
